DENVER – Six years ago at Peter Barton Stadium, Dak Riecke and a group of young boys lacrosse players earned a championship.
On the same field on the campus of the University of Denver more than 2,000 days and a lot of hard work and perseverance later, Riecke broke down as he saw many of those same players overcome with emotion as they earned yet another trophy, the Class 4A state championship.
The second-seeded Eagles ripped off seven straight goals in the opening half — which was more than enough for their stellar defense to protect — and they went on to a 12-7 victory over fourth-seeded Air Academy to claim the program’s first state championship.
“This is a Disney movie, I’ve coached a bunch of these kids since they were 8 years old and we won a state championship on this exact field,” Riecke said. “It’s been a long journey that no-one ever thought would end like this.”
Dakota Ridge had never so much as been to a state championship game before, but got there and finished as it completed a 17-2 season that ended with 11 consecutive wins dating back to a loss to 5A semifinalist Colorado Academy back on April 9.
The Eagles came in off a 13-9 victory over No. 3 Evergreen in a rugged semifinal and took an opening punch from the Kadets — who had knocked off top-seeded Aspen in the last round — but responded immediately. Down a goal, senior Tyler Read and junior Brody Spallone scored two goals apiece in a run that gave Dakota Ridge a 7-1 edge after one quarter.
Air Academy (16-2) got goals from sophomore Alex Sirios and freshman Dylan Hudson to close the gap a bit, but Spallone’s goal with 14 seconds left in the half restored a five-goal advantage that would only grow the rest of the way.
Read scored a team-high four goals to finish the season tied for the second-most goals in 4A with 65, while Spallone added three to lead seven goal scorers.
“We figured out their weaknesses after we threw a few jabs and then we found the right uppercut and came out and we won,” Read said. “Day One we knew we could do this. We’ve come close to making it before and we knew this year was our year.”
The sizable lead was especially safe given the high level of play from a very experienced defensive group in front of senior goalie Zach Hearn.
The Eagles held an Air Academy team that averaged nearly 15 goals per game to less than half that and two came while Hearn — who was part of the team that won the title on the same field six years earlier — served two minutes for taking a penalty.
“My defense had them on lock the entire game,” Hearn said. “I knew going into the box that my defense would be able to hold them for two minutes without me and they sure did. I wouldn’t want to be here with anybody else.”
With under two minutes remaining and the outcome decided, Riecke hopped up and down the sideline and hyped up the team as he let the emotions come out.
“When you’re up six goals with a couple of minutes left, you realize that no matter good the other team is, it’s over and we did our job tonight,” Riecke said. “We came in and played our game with these young men that turned out to be family. It’s been a long time coming.”
